Restaurant czar pays $19.5M for Tribeca pad

Tilman Fertitta, the billionaire entrepreneur best known for tourist-oriented chain restaurants such as Bubba Gump, has paid $19.5 million for a pied-a-terre in Tribeca, the New York Observer reported.

The 4,000-square-foot full-floor apartment at 1 York Street boasts a hot tub and south-facing terraces off both the master bedroom and the living room. The seller had purchased the apartment as a sponsor unit back in 2008 for $14.7 million, according to city records viewed by the Observer.

The off-market sale was brokered by Douglas Elliman’s Melanie Lazenby, who was recently profiled by The Real Deal. Lazenby declined to comment to the Observer on the identity of the seller.

The 13-story, 8,513-square-foot 1 York Street also has a Maserati dealership downstairs, which is appropriate given that Fertitta owns a Bentley and Rolls Royce dealership in Houston. [NYO] —Hiten Samtani